Red ginseng - White ginseng: What is the difference?

Both red and white ginseng or products made out of them are available.To begin with, "better" in the traditional sense is neither "red" nor "white" ginseng.The quality of ginseng depends on the quality of the root, which takes time to form the active ingredients - the ginsenosides.

Red and white ginseng are not, as is often assumed, products of various plants.Rather, they are from the same plant, Panax ginseng C.A.Meyer, whose roots were conserved only in different ways.

Following legal regulations, only ginseng roots that had ripened for at least six years could be processed into red ginseng.Legal protection and restrictions have been lifted some years ago, and younger, less substantial roots are now entering further processing.To become "red ginseng", the root pieces have to pass an additional treatment. This is the so-called Maillard method:

After the original white roots are harvested, sorted by size and cleaned, they are exposed to hot air flow at 120 to 130 ° C.As a result, the roots turn reddish and their surface becomes firm and glassy. Due to this heat treatment also certain enzymes are destroyed. After this processing step the now "red ginseng" will be dried.

Red ginseng is nothing more than white ginseng which has undergone additional processing which also causes a price increase.

"White ginseng", on the other hand, is dried immediately after harvest and then offered as a dry root or in powdered form.In the case of Asian imported goods, the processing of white ginseng usually already starts in the 3rd or 4th year of growth, which has an impact on the quality and effectiveness of the products.In addition, in many of these countries, the white ginseng is additionally peeled, i. e. the active agent-rich, outer layer is removed to look visually "attractive".The white FloraFarm ginseng, on the other hand, is guaranteed to be harvested in the 6th year, washed, dried and unpeeled when being processed.So he has plenty of time to maximize effective ingredients.

Thus, the FloraFarm ginseng "made in Germany" is a high quality medicine.